


until the miracle comes

by hopeyoustay



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blue Lions Dorothea Arnault, Blue Lions Ferdinand von Aegir, Blue Lions Students as Family (Fire Emblem), Dedue Molinaro Needs a Hug, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Felix Hugo Fraldarius Being an Asshole, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Friends to Lovers, Ingrid Brandl Galatea Is So Done, M/M, Protective Sylvain Jose Gautier, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:55:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29499933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeyoustay/pseuds/hopeyoustay
Summary: Having the Professor on their side was not enough to face the might of the Empire and a transformed Edelgard. Dimitri was one of the first to fall during the battle at Enbarr and Byleth, desperate to save their king, wrenches a hole in time and space and throws himself back to the beginning.He accidentally brings his students with him.(Or the one where all the Blue Lions except Dimitri remember him dying. Dimitri is suitably confused by the sudden outpour of concern and, frankly, insanity from his classmates and newly instated Professor.)(He's especially unused to concern from Felix, who he thought had rid his heart of any sympathy towards Dimitri a long time ago.)
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Blue Lions Students, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & My Unit | Byleth, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Dorothea Arnault/Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Jeritza von Hrym & Mercedes von Martritz, Mercedes von Martritz/Dedue Molinaro, Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 15
Kudos: 89





	1. another chance at falling apart

_..._

_The axe was embedded in Dimitri's chest, blood splattered all over his armor and face as he fell to his knees. Felix was so close, only thirty feet away, but the ocean of enemies kept him from running to the king. Edelgard, or the husk that was left of her, let out a horrifying noise of victory as Dimitri struggled, refusing to give up, trying to get to his feet until the end. Edelgard savaged the battlefield one last time with a horrifying wave of power from her crests, sending Felix to his knees with a ringing in his head. He was disoriented; the enemy was, too, which was a small mercy. He fought to his feet, taking stock of the battle and his friends._

_He saw in his peripheral that Ingrid's pegasus had gone down, Ferdinand and Sylvain both had been thrown from their horses, Dorothea was desperately trying to work up the power to warp to Ingrid, Byleth and Yuri were fighting back to back trying to reach Edelgard and Dimitri, and Constance and Mercedes were desperately trying to heal damage as it was done._

_He didn't see the others. Annette, Dedue, Ashe, Hapi, Flayn, Balthus; they were all nowhere to be seen, and Felix had a grim feeling they were beneath the piles of bodies strewn across Enbarr._

_Dimitri was still in plain sight, though Felix almost wished he wasn't. In the brief time it took everyone to regain their senses after Edelgard's onslaught, Felix found his eyes trailing back to the boar. Blood ran from the king's nose and lips, the axe so deep in his chest it's a wonder he hadn't simply keeled over, and he had blistering burns on his skin from Edelgard's power. Their eyes met for the briefest second, and he still spared Felix a smile, if it could even be called that. The slightest curve of his lips before he fell to the ground, completely still._

_Felix screamed until his throat was raw as he hacked away at any enemy that stood before him, and he turned just in time to see Yuri get gutted with a sword by a lucky soldier. Or unlucky, in truth, because Byleth had felled the man before he could even blink. He caught Yuri in his arms, the man already as dead as Dimitri, and gently laid him to the ground._

_It was horrible to think, but he was jealous for a brief, incoherent moment. At least Yuri died knowing Byleth loved him. At least Byleth had been able to love Yuri while he was alive._

_Felix watched as their Professor gripped his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white. The usually subdued man didn't bother hiding the grief and rage on his face, letting out a final battle cry as he charged the monster that was once Edelgard._

_..._

Felix woke up sometime around six in the morning, heart beating out of his chest. As he sat up in the bed of his school years, looking around at the dark bedroom he'd inhabited as an academy student, he could barely believe the situation that had been put before him. He'd just seen Dimitri get cut down, Edelgard's axe tearing clean through his chest-

He stumbled out of bed just in time to grab a trashcan and gag into it. The door opened right about that time, early morning light flooding the room, and there stood Ingrid and Sylvain. Their faces were pale and drawn, their eyes haunted, and they both looked as if they'd been crying.

"Do you-?" Ingrid said, but stopped herself before she shot a look at Sylvain, "Do you remember?"

"The war?" Felix bit out, ignoring the vile taste in his mouth from retching up last night's dinner, "Pretty hard to forget."

"Thank the Goddess," Sylvain slumped against the doorframe, "Is this the afterlife or something? Why are we teenagers again? I don't know about you, but living eternally in Garreg Mach with only bishops to hit on doesn't seem-"

Ingrid smacked him sharply upside the head, "Not now! We- wait, did you actually hit on a bishop?"

"Yeah, and let me tell you, she was _not_ happy." Sylvain winced, "Got a personal scolding from Seteth after that."

They stared at him silently for a moment, the tension having been broken by the skirt-chasing Dark Knight per usual until heavy footsteps were heard rushing towards Felix's dorm. The rest of the Blue Lions made themselves known quickly, with Annette throwing herself into Ingrid's arms, quickly dissolving into a sobbing mess. Mercedes wrapped both the other girls in a hug, tears silently running down her cheeks. Ashe looked around at all of them, face troubled and Felix wondered if he had actually died before they ended up back here. Dedue was silent as ever, the only difference from his usual demeanor being how tense his shoulders were. 

"Okay." Sylvain took a deep breath in from his nose, "So I'm guessing we all just lived through the same nightmare."

"Looks like it," Ingrid said as she peeled a barely composed Annette away from her and carefully passed her to Mercedes, "Where's Dimitri?"

"He was not in his room." Dedue said, voice low and concerned, and everyone went silent when he spoke, "I checked."

"Shit," Felix growled, pressing his palms into his eyes until he saw stars.

"W-why has this happened?" Ashe said, voice shaking, "Why are we so young? Are we dead, or-"

"Were we sent back in time?" Mercedes finished for him, her voice unusually grim.

"How would we have been sent back in time?" Sylvain scoffed, "I mean, who would even have that much power? I don't think a warp, even supercharged, could turn back time hours let alone _five years_."

Everyone went silent and they all came to the realization at once.

"The Professor," Mercedes said, "When he tore himself out of the void, and when he was chosen by the Sword of the Creator..."

"You really think he's _divine_?" Sylvain said, eyes wide, "I know the Archbishop did that ritual, trying to call upon the Goddess, but I thought, well, I thought she was just losing it a bit."

"Sylvain!" Ingrid snapped, "You can't say that!"

"We nearly died and got sent back in time, Ingrid!" Sylvain made a series of motions with his hands that read as frantic, "I think blasphemy is the least of our worries!"

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, but what just happened?" They heard a new voice, none other than Ferdinand himself, and turned around to see two of the missing members from their class.

Dorothea and Ferdinand stood there with wide eyes, still dressed in the red lounge clothes belonging to the Black Eagles, both of them looking as disturbed as the rest of them. Ingrid tore herself away from Mercedes and Annette, a small smile curving her lips at the sight of her girlfriend.

"Ingrid!" Dorothea's concern melted into a smile when she saw her, tears in her eyes as she darted forward to wrap the other woman in a hug, "I saw your pegasus go down, but I was too far away-"

"I'm okay now." Ingrid said softly, her eyes gentler than Felix had ever seen before when she looked at Dorothea, "So are you."

Dorothea swallowed thickly, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Ingrid's ear before she stepped back and addressed the group as a whole, "Does anyone want to tell me why I'm eighteen again? Not that I'm unhappy about the youthful glow, but the last thing I recall was bloodshed in Enbarr."

"Is what Sylvain said true?" Ferdinand interrupted, his face more anxious than Felix had ever seen from the paladin, "Are we...Did we somehow end up back in time, before the war began?"

"We're not sure." Mercedes bit her lip, "It appears to be divine intervention, though, and we are in academy uniforms. Well, academy pajamas, at any rate."

"Um, did any of you think to check the date?" Dorothea spoke up once more, making everyone fall quiet.

She pointed at the calendar on Felix's wall. Everyone just looked at her, and she heaved a gusty sigh, "Of course not. So many nobles here and not a brain cell between you."

Ingrid cleared her throat, cheeks pink as she looked at the calendar, "20th of the Great Tree Moon, 1180."

"That's the day the professor rescued Dimitri and the others," Annette said, eyes wide.

"The day Edelgard tried to have Dimitri and Claude assassinated." Ferdinand furrowed his brows, "Do you think she'll-?"

"The professor won't let anything happen to them, Ferdinand." Mercedes soothed, "They'll be fine."

Felix's head was spinning. Everyone kept talking, voices overlapping in a cacophony of sound that had his already sore brain beating itself against the inside of his skull. He kept seeing images of Dimitri on his knees, with Edelgard's axe embedded in his chest. He remembers locking eyes with him from across the battlefield, and for all Felix tried to claim he never care, his heart had shattered when the other man had fallen still and slumped over. Edelgard, not even human anymore, had turned her attention to their professor then. Byleth had let out one final battle cry, the body of his lover cooling beside him as he began to charge, and that was the last thing Felix could remember. He didn't know if he'd been cut down, or if time had stopped as he was sent back to his academy youth, but the images of Dimitri laying dead were forever burned into his brain.

He cared so much, too much, and it tore him apart from the inside out. Towards the end, Dimitri was someone he recognized; not a boar but a man, a haunted man but one that was fighting his demons albeit self-destructively. Felix had been forced to face the truth, which was that he loved Dimitri and had never really stopped. He turned that affection to hate, which was such an easy thing to do when you felt betrayed, but at the core of that hatred had always been love. It was an extremely bitter pill to swallow, and he had sworn to himself he'd die before he told the prince turned king. He regretted that decision now, having felt his soul be shredded by the fact that he let Dimitri die thinking he still harbored ill will towards him.

Goddess, what was the last thing he'd even told the man before the battle? Probably something cruel, and definitely involving the word boar. He used to relish the way the insult made Dimitri flinch ever so slightly on an off day, but now it only left regret settling in his stomach when he thought of it.

A hand gently resting on his shoulder was enough to draw him back to the present, and he looked up to see Sylvain, "Are you okay, man?"

Felix jerked his shoulder from his friend's grasp, huffing slightly, "I'm fine."

He got eight identical looks of skepticism in response, which was sort of galling. It was one thing to have his childhood friends know about his crush and pity him for it, but having the entire class of Blue Lions know about it and pitying him for it? A touch humiliating, if he was honest. His only mercy was that Dimitri was as dumb as a rock and twice as oblivious. He wouldn't be able to figure out Felix's feelings if they were right in front of him, which apparently, judging by everyone else's reactions, they were.

"Do you think Flayn is okay?" Annette questioned, "Yuri and the others, too?"

Yuri was most certainly not okay. If he woke up with his memories he'd definitely remember dying and judging from the stark white of Ashe's face Felix could guess it wasn't a pleasant experience. 

"I'm sure they're fine. Flayn is still with Seteth, and the Archbishop still protects them. Yuri and the others are in Abyss, they'll likely be here soon." Mercedes reassured, "Besides, do we even know if the Black Eagles remember as well?"

They all froze for a second. That would be...disastrous. 

"No." Ferdinand shook his head firmly, "I passed Hubert on the way here, told him I was going to the kitchen to help with breakfast. He didn't try to gut me, so I'm guessing they know nothing."

The group let out a collective sigh of relief. Felix noted the dark look in Ferdinand's eyes; if he recalled correctly, Hubert and Ferdinand had been an item at some late point during their academy years, right before Edelgard revealed herself. Judging from Sylvain's scowl, he knew that too.

In truth, Ingrid was the only one of them not completely inept at relationships, and he still had to give most of the credit to Dorothea for that.

"Then what should we-?" Ingrid began but was interrupted by the bells chiming. 

"They're back." Annette gasped.

"We should go." Ingrid said immediately, "To check on him. He's probably traumatized!"

"He's been traumatized his whole life." Felix snipped, "If we rush him and start acting weird, people will get suspicious. He survived on the run from the Empire for five years, I'll think he can manage a walk back to the Monastery."

"As much as I hate to say it," Sylvain grinned, "Felix is right. Besides, the professor is with them at this point. He _definitely_ remembers. To be honest I'm not worried about His Highness's safety at this point as much as I'm worried about _hers_. Not to say I give a single shit about her at all, but it'll be a miracle if she's not dead by the end of the year, between Dimitri and the professor."

"Why would the professor want her dead, outside the obvious reasons we all have?" Ferdinand began, before he paled, "Did Yuri-?"

"Yes." Felix confirmed, "From what I remember it was fairly gruesome."

"Oh." He said, his shoulders hunching some as he grimaced, "Yes, that would explain that."

"You know, I didn't think of that." Ingrid said, "We could end the war before it begins."

"Ingrid! She hasn't even done anything yet!" Dorothea said, looking at her with wide eyes.

"You know just as well as the rest of us what she _will_ do, though." Felix snapped, "Don't try and defend her."

"I'm not!" The songstress bit back, "I'm just saying that, well, _morally_ -!"

"We couldn't." Ferdinand shook his head, "Killing her would mean unleashing those...those _creatures_ on ourselves without any warning of what they're capable of. I doubt Hubert would be willing to give us any information if we were to kill Edelgard."

"He wouldn't anyway, he hates all of us...Or did, I suppose." Ingrid shook her head.

"No, no. You were correct." Dorothea rolled her eyes, "He hates all of us, even now."

Ingrid bit down a smile before turning somber again, "She might keep those beasts on a leash for now, but we have to deal with it eventually. Wouldn't you rather do it earlier this time around? If she dies, there's...well, there'd still be a war, now that I think about it."

"And we'd be to blame." Sylvain finished grimly, "Faerghus would tear us apart for starting another war. Probably denounce Dimitri if he were the one to do it."

Ingrid sat down in Felix's desk chair, sagging in on herself as she rubbed her temples, "Is there no way to avoid this? All that bloodshed?"

"I don't think so." Dorothea frowned, kneeling beside her and placing a hand on her arm, "We'll get through this. We're prepared this time."

"For one, we can't let Cornelia take over Faerghus." Sylvain frowned.

"That'd be a good place to start." Ingrid sighed, "We need to start planning now, though. Readying troops, putting fail-safes into place. We know who works with the Empire, we just have to root them out now."

"I'm sure His Highness will have some ideas, right?" Annette smiled, turning to Mercedes, "Right?"

"Of course, Annie!" The healer nodded, "We just need to stay optimistic."

"Easier said than done." Felix griped.

"Um, hello?" They all froze, turning to see a very confused, much younger Dimitri standing in the doorway.

He shifted on his feet when all eyes turned towards him, the occupants of the room wordless for a moment, "I heard voices coming from Felix's room. I wasn't sure-"

"Your Highness!" Annette burst into tears, and Felix had trouble matching the image of this crying young girl to the one of a woman who had razed entire battlefields.

"What-?" He blinked, eyes wide, "Are you alright?"

She rushed forward to wrap him in a hug, Mercedes and Ashe not far behind. At some point, those two had started crying as well, and he saw Ingrid and Sylvain were misty-eyed. Ingrid had gotten back to her feet, though her legs were shaking and Dorothea placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort. When he looked back over at Dimitri, he saw the man's eyes were wide and darting around to them all in a plea for help. Felix wanted to laugh; the boar had always been awful with any emotion besides rage.

"Are you safe, Your Highness?" Dedue asked, stepping forward to look the other man over, "Any wounds?"

"What? No, no I barely received a scratch." 

"Do you feel dizzy? Lightheaded? Your migraines-"

"T-that's quite enough, Dedue!" The prince rushed out, red blossoming on his cheeks, "And I think you three need some rest."

Dimitri tried to gently peel his friends away from him, "What's going on anyway? Why are you all in Felix's room? And- is that Ferdinand von Aegir and Dorothea Arnault? Aren't they part of the Black Eagles?"

Felix's stomach dropped. He saw his friends' faces fall as well, and even Annette, Ashe, and Mercedes stopped crying as they all realized the same thing.

Dimitri didn't remember.

He didn't remember Edelgard was the Flame Emperor, didn't remember the five years he spent on the run, didn't remember the savagery he'd turned to in order to survive, didn't remember-

He didn't remember Felix. Not truly, anyway. Not in the way Felix remembered Dimitri, the way Felix remembered them healing even a bit of their relationship before the battle at Enbarr took place. Felix remembered the way Dimitri's eye had dropped to his lips that one night in the cathedral, and he remembers how much he regretted not acting on the impulse-

He didn't notice he was crying, a few tears leaking out and rolling down his cheeks until he noticed Dimitri's worried gaze on him. 

"Felix?" The prince said, "Anyone? I'm truly starting to get concerned."

"The knights that rode ahead." Sylvain started, his voice thick, "They said that your teacher had run off and bandits attacked. We might have heard an overexaggerated story from some of the staff."

"Oh." Dimitri's eyes widened in understanding, "I'm terribly sorry to have concerned you all so."

Felix saw the slight upturn of lips, though, and the way his blue eyes lit up at the thought. He was _happy_ they were concerned about him. Felix pursed his lips, biting the inside of his cheek, and his chest hurt. 

"And, uh-" The prince's gaze slid to Dorothea and Ferdinand, who were both pale but not quite crying, "I'm not sure we've been officially introduced yet, but it's a pleasure to meet you."

Dorthea gave a wobbly smile, "You as well. We'd heard the ruckus and I know Ingrid already, so-"

"Right, you're probably horribly worried about Edelgard." Dimitri's brow furrowed, "Forgive my thoughtlessness. She's perfectly alright as well, a mercenary saved her from a last-minute attack from one of the rouges."

Byleth saved Edelgard? He shared a glance with Ingrid and Sylvain. Did their professor not remember as well? Was it all up to them?"

"O-oh." Dorothea faltered for just a second, "Yes, thank you. Ferdie and I were...horribly worried about-about...Edie."

Ferdinand just nodded, face looking a touch green. Perhaps remembering he'd be back with the Black Eagles before long, he and Dorothea surrounded by people they'd killed and who'd tried to kill them.

"Of course. The mercenary was...quite odd, really." Dimitri frowned slightly, "Before he went to see the Archbishop, he said something about checking out the sewers. I'm not really sure why but..."

Felix felt like smacking his forehead. If that was the case, Byleth definitely remembered. He was being a fool and far too obvious, but at the same time Felix understood. If Dimitri was in the sewers, that's where he'd be going too.

"Well, at any rate, you two should get some rest as well." Dimitri nodded at them, "I'm certain Edelgard would tell you the same thing."

The rest of them muttered in agreement before slowly filing out of the small dorm room, soon leaving only Dimitri behind, the prince watching them all go.

The blond shuffled his feet a bit, avoiding looking at Felix and choosing to gaze at the floorboards instead, "Well, I'll see you at breakfast."

Felix reached out and grabbed his arm last minute, watching how the prince tensed up at the touch.

"Felix?" Dimitri's eyes met his now, both there and so whole and blue, "Is there something wrong?"

"You're okay?" Felix spoke around the lump in his throat.

The prince blinked in shock, opening and closing his mouth once before he responded, "Yes, I'm fine."

"Good." Felix dropped his arm like a lump of burning coal, "I'll kill you if you die."

"Well, that would be counterproductive." Dimitri spared him a small smile before repeating, "I'll see you at breakfast."

It wasn't phrased like a question, but Felix still nodded, "Yeah."

Dimitri turned away, walking from the room with lighter steps than when he entered. Felix closed the door behind him and then slumped against it, sliding to the floor. Resting his head against the wood, he sighed. Maybe they could protect Dimitri this time.

No, he thought. They _would_ protect Dimitri this time. From Edelgard, from the disgusting creatures in her employ, from Cornelia, from whoever the fuck took his eye. They would protect him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be...a rollercoaster. Hope you all enjoy it too! Let me know what you think in the comments! :)


	2. standing next to you

It was foolish of Byleth, ditching the young lords and heading straight for the entrance of Abyss as he did. Dimitri was safe and oblivious to his fate, and in his mind, he knew Yuri was as well, but-

But he'd held Yuri's body in his arms and watched the light leave his eyes, just like he'd done with his father. It was like he was cursed to lose everyone he'd ever love, and now they were all back.

He'd cried when his father woke him up, he was ashamed to admit, though seeing the startled expression on his father's face was almost worth it. He was actually pretty startled to realize he'd gone back so far, let alone to the beginning of his journey with the Blue Lions and Dimitri. Seeing the king so young again was almost painful; in comparison to how broken he was in the future, he felt now more than ever that he'd let the then-prince down by being asleep for so long. 

During that final battle in Enbarr, everything is a blur inside his mind, and it would be pointless to try and comprehend it. The only things he remembered with stark clarity were Dimitri being felled by Edelgard set to the sound of Felix's screaming and then seeing Yuri struck down right in front of him.

After that, he had charged Edelgard only to crash into that damned shield surrounding her, so he decided to go back. He didn't care how far, even if it was only a few more hours. He'd used the divine pulse to its limit; Sothis had warned him not to abuse it, but he'd seen so many of his friends, his students, struck down that day and he couldn't help it. He couldn't let them die, any of them. Just once more, he'd thought, using any power he had left inside him and even drawing some from the Sword of the Creator itself. Just once more.

Then he'd been awoken to a gentle shake on the shoulder, he tasted blood in his mouth, and he practically burst into tears when he saw his father. Admittedly, fusing with Sothis had made his emotions flow a bit more freely, but even still it wasn't his proudest moment as he was someone who prided himself on his emotional control. Now, he was back in time and living with the Goddess who'd been separated from his body once more rattling around in his head, or perhaps prattling on at him outside his head would be a more accurate assessment.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" She asked, floating beside him as he made his way down the long set of stairs and into Abyss, "You're tearing apart the time and space continuum! How did you even manage this? How can you accidentally send yourself back five years and some odd months? The complete irresponsibility!"

"I had to." He said shortly, pursing his lips, "They were dying. Some were already dead."

"So you return to the very beginning of your journey?" She sighed, pinching her nose, "I know you are but a mortal yet-"

"Am I really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Goddess groaned, "Technically not, at this point. More God than man, I suppose. Still, to use the divine pulse and interrupt the flow of time so efficiently...I'd be impressed if I weren't worried about the consequences."

"There have never been consequences before." Byleth shrugged, "I'm still using it just fine, anyway."

It was true, too. He'd used it during the battle with the bandits earlier. Not it the way he had initially in his first timeline. This time he'd let the bandit rush Edelgard, and she had been killed, but then Dimitri had rushed in before he could be stopped and got himself decapitated. So, back to saving Edelgard it was, and he'd unwound the hands of time once again. He should've known the fix wouldn't be that easy, time always has a way of trying to correct itself, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't give an attempt. 

"Still, we should be cautious." She crossed her arms, but her expression was gentler now, "You fear for _him_ , don't you? It's why we're going down here."

"Of course I do." Byleth said, uncomfortable, "He died in my arms."

"He is hale and whole here, you know. You did manage to save him; all of them, for that matter."

"I know. I just have to see." 

He gave a nod to the briefly confused Abyssian gatekeeper, letting his feet carry him down the long, familiar paths of Garreg Mach's underworld. No one paid him much attention at this point; he wasn't a flashy new professor or Rhea's shiny new toy right now. Just a mercenary, a rouge the same as them, killing to survive.

At the end of the longest hallway, past the scrap heap, laid the room he had been looking for. An old, abandoned room which had b been made into a classroom. It's where Yuri usually was, before. He hadn't seen Constance, Hapi, or Balthus on his way there, which was vaguely concerning, but perhaps they were all together or on an excursion to the market in the world above. Constance tended to take her trips right before sun up or right after sundown for obvious reasons regarding her personality shift. 

He heard voices as he approached, the familiar boisterous voice of Balthus that seemed to fill up whatever room he was in being the most prominent, and he tried to be stealthy when he peeked around the corner. He just needed a glance, that was all. He could be satisfied with their safety, with Yuri's safety, then he would leave to return later when their meeting was supposed to happen.

Byleth had barely stuck his head around the corner when he was taken off guard by a hand grabbing him by the collar of his cloak. It pulled him straight into the room and into someone's arms, gripping him in a crushing hug. It was startling for a moment, and it took him a second to fend off the instinct to fight first and ask questions later. He settled only when he saw the lilac strands of hair that threatened to smother him as Yuri, who was trembling like a leaf, locked him into a tight hug. His mind blanked for a second, refusing to acknowledge the situation he was in and instead choosing to sink into familiar arms. 

Everything was quiet for a moment before he heard Hapi speak up, "Took you long enough, chatterbox. We were wondering what happened."

He was reluctant to pull away, but shock made him as he looked at the Ashen Wolves and realized none of them were surprised by his presence. Yuri grabbed his face quickly, holding it between his hands, and rested their foreheads together.

"Give the poor darlings a minute, Hapi!" Constance exclaimed.

Balthus snorted, "They can hear you."

"To be fair, Coco, I don't think they're listening to you or me."

"You know me?" Byleth whispered, his tunnel vision excluding everything but lilac hair and eyes, "How do you know me?"

"Of course I know you." Yuri smiled slightly, "How could I ever forget you, _friend_?"

Byleth's lip trembled and Yuri's face fell when he saw the tears collecting in his lover's eyes, "By...I'm here now. I'm alright, see?"

Yuri's thumb caressed his cheekbone and Byleth sunk back into his arms, burying his face in his neck. It was a bit awkward, Yuri's cape was in the way and Byleth was still in full armor, but he clung to his revived boyfriend like a frightened child. He didn't care the other Ashen Wolves were watching; if it was true that they remembered, they'd seen Byleth at much lower points than this.

"Hey, now." Yuri pulled him back, and Byleth saw tears gathering in purple eyes, "I'm guessing this is that Goddess time travel power you told me something about?"

Byleth could only nod, not trusting himself to speak. Yuri's face softened, and he ran a gentle hand through Byleth's hair, "I forget it used to be so dark. The green was practically luminescent." 

"You called me a glow bug one time." Byleth laughed weakly.

"In my defense, your hair did basically glow in the dark." Yuri grinned.

"Eck, I always forget how disgusting they are until it's right in front of me." He turned to see Hapi scrunching her nose up at them.

"You're ruining a beautiful moment, Hapi." Constance admonished, "We've talked about manners."

" _You_ talk about a lot of things _we_ pay no attention to." Balthus snorted, "Hey, pal, was Yuri serious about the time travel thing?"

Byleth grimaced and Yuri shot him an apologetic look. Well, as apologetic as Yuri could get.

"Yes. I haven't told many about it, but given my...connection...with Sothis, I was granted the power to turn back time."

"Turn back time?" Constance's eyebrows furrowed, "Have you done it before?"

"Yes. Many times." Byleth sighed, shoulders slumping a bit under the weight.

"How do you think everyone always makes it out alive?" Yuri said dryly, placing a hand on Byleth's back between his shoulder blades.

He couldn't feel the warmth from Yuri's hand through the layers of armor and clothing, but the weight was reassuring nonetheless. He saw Constance pale at the thought.

"Have any of us ever-?" She started to ask, but Hapi interrupted.

"Don't ask that." She groaned, clenching her eyes shut, "I already feel sick trying to wrap my head around all this, so I really don't need to know the answer to that question."

Balthus grinned, "That's pretty wicked, though. Why'd we remember this time if we didn't before?"

"Probably because I overcharged it." Byleth shrugged, "I was desperate and things were...well."

They were all silent for a second and he felt a tremor of movement from Yuri's hand as he removed it from his back. Byleth grabbed it with his own gloved one, looking Yuri in the eyes.

"I have to go."

"Don't." 

Frowning, Byleth looked him over carefully and saw just how pale he was. Yuri was usually the responsible one. Well, responsible in a sense. He was still the one that fought rival gangs far past midnight in excursions that led to daring escapes, but he was also the one that made Byleth tea after a long day and forced him to eat when he felt like just passing out from exhaustion. He was more reasonable than Byleth, anyways, so for him to request Byleth's presence even when he knew the Archbishop of all people was waiting...

"I'll be back tonight. Rhea is expecting me now."

Yuri sighed perhaps a touch dramatically, "Fine. You know where my room is."

"Of course." Byleth nodded, releasing his hand, "I'll see you all later. I have to take care of...everything."

"Wait!" Hapi stopped him, "Will everyone else remember too? Is it just us?"

"Dimitri didn't." He was sure he looked thoroughly out of his depth, "It's why I wasn't expecting this. I don't know exactly what effects turning back time this far had, and I don't know who remembers what."

"Well go find out, then, chatterbox." Hapi rolled her eyes, "Report back tonight, I guess."

"Hey, I give the orders around here." Yuri reprimanded sarcastically.

"I just want to know if Freckles will help me sneak the good pastries from the kitchen again." She grinned.

"You take advantage of Ashe." Byleth shook his head slightly as he left.

"He makes it so easy!" She called after him, laughing slightly.

He froze halfway down the hallway before remembering and turning around and jogging back, poking his head through the open door again. The four inside stopped to stare right back.

"Aelfric?"

Yuri gave him a lazy smile, his eyes twinkling, "You have no faith in me, do you, love?"

Byleth blinked, "I'm assuming you have a plan, then."

"Do you want a numerical list, or would you prefer alphabetical?"

"Okay, okay." Byleth raised his hands in surrender, "You'll take care of it. Come get me if you need me, though. He was dangerous. He _is_ dangerous."

"He was desperate. And also on a trip to the market currently." Hapi smirked, "He won't expect one of these."

She gestured to Balthus who mimed a quick double punch, even doing a little jump to demonstrate. 

"Then we leave it up to the Archbishop after telling her of his plot." Constance smiled proudly, "We're assuming he gets sent into exile again."

"It's what we _should have_ done the first time..." Hapi gave Yuri a hard side-eye, "But someone likes being shady."

Yuri didn't seem too ashamed and instead smiled proudly. 

"You four work fast." Byleth raised his eyebrows, "Did you even need any adjustment time after waking up?"

"When you're on the run you don't get adjustment time." Balthus laughed.

"Right." He smiled at Yuri one last time then turned around again, "Stay safe."

The soon-to-be professor began his long trudge up the stairs, seeing daylight cresting around the corner.

"Consequences." Sothis pointedly said, "Remember?"

"I'm aware." He ran a hand down his face, "I'm very aware."

_..._

Breakfast was a loud affair that day. Felix tried to tune everyone out, but Claude was retelling the story of their daring escape two tables over to the rest of the Golden Deer and Ingrid wouldn't stop staring at Dorothea and sighing quietly to herself. That coupled with the fact that Dimitri had decided to sit across from him today, sandwiched between Dedue and Annette and looking vaguely uncomfortable with all the attention, made it impossible for him to focus on his meal. Instead, his eyes were drawn to the way Dimitri pushed his scrambled eggs around the plate and never really took a bite.

He had been a little too skinny in their academy days now that Felix was paying attention. The fact that he could only taste extraordinarily intense flavors was probably the culprit, as they'd managed to get him back to a healthy weight once they had Flayn cook for him. She went overboard with both sugar and spice, depending on the dish, and Dimitri was the only one that could stomach the taste because that's all he could taste. 

"Would you maybe like to spar later, Your Highness?" Ashe questioned from across the table, "I've been practicing with my lance, but it could still use some work."

"Oh, of course." Dimitri nodded slightly, "And you _can_ call me Dimitri, you know?"

Ashe balked at the statement just as he did when Dimitri was king and saying the same thing, "That'd be highly improper."

The prince just sighed like he'd been expecting that response.

"Well, _Dimitri_ ," Annette began, startling them all, "Mercie and I are making sweets tonight before dinner. You could join us?"

As someone who avoided addressing him only by name even in the future, hearing her call him that was a shock. She claimed before that she learned in the Royal School of Sorcery in Fhirdiad, where they'd had manners drilled into their heads until it became second nature. It obviously caught Dimitri off guard as well, though not for the same reasons. Still, he gave her a small smile.

"Um-" He began, eyes bright, before hesitating, "I'm...actually not the best at cooking. Perhaps it would be for the best if I left that to you two."

His face had visibly fallen, and Felix's gut twisted. Even hiding behind pretty words, Dimitri was broken in more ways than one.

"Nonsense!" Mercedes piped up with a kind smile, "We'd love the help regardless."

The chatter got more comfortable after that, everyone falling into old patterns of speech, and Dimitri quickly getting up to speed with both his childhood friends and the new members of his house. Still, in the whole hour they sat they, he never took a single bite of breakfast. He just kept moving the food from one side of the plate to the other, and it annoyed Felix to no end. Really, if the idiot would just learn to ask for help, over half of their problems would be solved. 

Finally giving in and grunting in annoyance, Felix grabbed a bottle of hot pepper sauce from the center of the table and slid it across to Dimitri. The only issue was he'd slid it with perhaps a bit _too_ much force. Dimitri made a startled noise as the glass bottle shattered against the ceramic plate, hot sauce splattering all over him and his food. That wouldn't have been so bad, maybe, but now there were also glass shards in his eggs. The entire dining hall seemed to quiet down, all staring at Felix, and the worst expression he saw wasn't Ingrid's disappointed look or Sylvain's amused smirk. No, instead Dimitri was looking at him all wounded and hurt like Felix had meant to shatter a glass bottle against his plate.

"Catch it next time." Felix snapped on instinct, and he was sure his cheeks were going red, and maybe that wasn't the best response to this situation?

From the way Ingrid sighed and Sylvain snorted, clapping a hand over his mouth to smother his laughter, it probably wasn't even in the top ten things to say after you ruined someone's breakfast. 

"Your Highness, are you-?" Annette stopped midsentence, catching herself falling into the old habit and scratching her cheek, "Uh, you didn't get cut by the glass, did you?"

"Do you need a bandage?" Dedue questioned, after shooting Felix an intense stare. 

"No, I'm fine." Dimitri gave everyone a tight smile, "Just an accident. I'll go get changed."

"We'll clean up the mess, don't worry." Mercedes said from her spot next to Dedue, already picking up a cloth napkin.

"Thank you." Dimitri nodded his head in her direction before walking briskly out of the dining hall.

Chatter slowly filled the room again, but he could still feel every eye at the table on him.

"What?" He snapped, "I thought he'd want the hot sauce. He wasn't even eating anything, the spice would've helped."

"Well, maybe next time you feel generous don't shatter the bottle all over him and then blame _him_ for it." Sylvain said between chuckles, "Goddess, that was priceless. Did you see His Highness's _face_?"

"You don't hate him, right?" Ingrid questioned him with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course I don't." Felix bit out the words like they exhausted him.

She rolled her eyes, "Then would it kill you to show it?"

Byleth chose that moment to appear, looking them all over and then looking down to see the mess of shattered glass and sauce. He sighed, exhaustion clear on his face as he looked up right at the still laughing Sylvain.

"Why do you assume it was me?" The redhead feigned offense, "Professor, I'm _hurt_. I'll have you know this was Felix's doing."

He aimed a kick at Sylvain's shin under the table, but the bastard dodged.

"Not your professor yet." Byleth said dryly, "You all are awful at this."

"So you do remember?" Ingrid leaned forward and whispered, "Does Yuri and the others?"

He nodded, sitting just to the left of the mess when Annette scooted over to make room for him, "Yes. Does anyone outside of you all?"

"Dorothea and Ferdinand." Mercedes nodded towards where they sat beside each other, talking in low voices together at the Black Eagles table, a stark difference from how they were originally in their academy days, "We haven't seen Flayn."

"I have." Byleth rubbed his temples, "First I get accosted in the sewers by the Ashen Wolves, then on my way to see the Archbishop she almost ran me over."

They all peeked over to where she sat next to Seteth who, far too deep into reading his reports to notice anything out of the ordinary going on, didn't notice her shoot them a double thumbs up and a wide smile, flashing her pointy canines. 

"So, what happened?" Sylvain asked, raising an eyebrow, "Mercedes said it was divine time travel, but that sounds a bit far-fetched."

"That's actually quite a good way of putting it." Byleth considered it for a moment, enjoying the way Sylvain's face fell into incredulity, "As I explained earlier to our favorite sewer dwellers, the divine pulse is something I am able to use because of my connection with Sothis."

He seemed to enjoy their stunned expressions but carried on regardless, "I've used it many times. To stop one of you from dying, or an enemy escaping. Sometimes, if I use it too much, it won't work at all for a couple of days. Or, if I'm really pushing it, it'll backfire, as it did in this instance."

"Why do we remember and not His Highness?" Ingrid asked, "It can't be because he was dead when the time travel happened? Yuri still remembers...so does Ashe."

Byleth grimaced slightly, sparing the young archer an apologetic glance before explaining quietly, "From what I can glean on the limited research I've done on the mechanics of time, Dimitri is a shatter point. Nothing he does will change the outcome of the war; his fate is set by those around him, you and I, for example. As such he will not remember any alternate timelines, because our actions will have made them null and void. While he has only two paths, survive and win or lose and die, your paths are all limitless. If I had chosen to teach a different house, or if you had been recruited by another professor, even if you had joined Edelgard at the beginning of this mess."

That earned him several outraged looks and he waved a hand, "It's just an example."

"We'd never abandon His Highness." Ingrid said, face set in determination, "He's our friend and our king."

She got several murmurs of agreement and Byleth nodded, "As I said, just an example. Your actions set his fate; your fates are not set by his." 

Felix pursed his lips slightly at the declarations of loyalty and faith the others spouted. He wouldn't lie and say he hadn't thought of transferring classes during their academy years or leaving in the early days of the war. For the longest time, he was repulsed by Dimitri's hollow smiles and faux politeness. He knew what the prince could turn into given the right circumstances, and it made him sick to see his once-friend be brought so low by the mere thought of the dead and a hunger for revenge. To see him turn into a mindless monster, hellbent on slaughtering any Imperial troops with a single-minded vengeance, seemed like a disgrace to the memory of his childhood friend. He'd convinced himself the Dimitri he knew was well and truly dead until he realized he wasn't.

He now knew Dimitri had actually been tormented by hallucinations in his own mind brought on by severe trauma. At least, those were the words Manuela had used. Looking back, he'd like to say his faith had never wavered, but it'd be a lie, and he felt ill knowing he would've abandoned them so easily before he knew everything. He would've left before acknowledging his feelings, and seeing Dimitri return to some semblance of the prince Felix had always wanted to see again. 

Not to mention Dimitri didn't, and would never, remember their previous experiences. The war, the healing, even Enbarr, as bloody as it was and as much as Felix himself would like to forget it. Honestly, he knew a bit more about being traumatized by violence having lived through Edelgard's little crusade, and maybe he sympathized with Dimitri more after it. None of it excused the savagery or putting their men and friends at risk, but at least he'd learned from those mistakes and had slowly grown into the leader Faerghus deserved.

All that growth was gone now. Maybe, if Felix tried hard enough, he could beat it into Dimitri early on this time, before any of it really mattered. 

If he was willing to acknowledge it, he'd realize maybe it hurt more than he let on, and maybe it hurt because of more than just Dimitri's lost growth. Maybe his chest ached because he thought there was a chance Dimitri felt the same way, and it was all gone now, and he didn't know if he could replicate the events that made Dimitri love him in return. 

Maybe he should start by not attacking him with condiments. 

Byleth left not long after that, and when breakfast let out he saw Dorothea and Ferdinand head in the direction their professor had gone. Felix had decided to listen to his gut, going back towards the dorms and heading down two doors from his, where Dimitri was with only Dedue's room separating theirs. He knocked once and received no answer, but he heard shuffling inside so he flung open the door without much care. Dimitri seemed to jump a mile in the air when the door slammed open, mouth dropping in shock when he saw Felix standing there. It was the most un-princely thing he'd ever seen Dimitri do during their academy years, and it made him want to laugh. 

The urge died out when he saw the bleeding wound on his lower arm, bandaged just enough to stop it soaking through his clothes. He had his academy jacket and cape off, only wearing the beige undershirt that many students wore by itself during the summer months. The loose sleeves were rolled up around his elbows, revealing the soaked bandages wrapped around the wound tightly. Of course, Dimitri's first aid was shit too; the man had no aptitude for healing or the medical arts whatsoever. 

"Felix?" The prince asked, eyebrows furrowing, "I thought it was Dedue again. He knocked earlier but left eventually."

Felix's eyes dropped to the wound. It looked far too big to have been caused by a glass shard, and the blood crusted in the gauze looked nearly dry. Too old to be caused by the hot sauce incident, then. 

"You lied." He practically snarled, grabbing Dimitri by his uninjured arm and nearly tossing him on the bed, "You dumbass! We asked if you were okay when you got back, why did you say yes?"

He was very conscious of the fact that he was only manhandling Dimitri because the other allowed it; the prince had the mythical Blaiddyd strength, which meant it would take someone with far more physical strength than Feliux to get Dimitri to do something he didn't want to. Even the professor had a hard time sparring against him in the future, which said a lot seeing as recent revelations revealed their professor to essentially be divine. 

Dimitri's eyes fell to the floor and he jerked his free arm from Felix's grasp easily, "Everyone seemed so worried and I didn't want to cause further distress, it would heal soon anyways with a vulnerary."

"Idiot!" He snapped, beginning to unroll the bandaged in a way that was somehow aggressive and gentle at the same time, "When you're hurt, you go to the healers."

"Since when do you care," Dimitri muttered, watching closely as Felix's long fingers made quick work of freeing the cut.

The borderline childish way the words were uttered combined with the hidden pain behind them brought Felix up short. Instead of responding and saying something he'd regret, he allowed his fingers to glow white and wrapped them gently around the inflicted area. It was seemingly instant relief, Dimitri's shoulders relaxing and the tension draining from his face.

"I didn't know you could heal." Dimitri's brow furrowed, looking up into Felix's eyes, "When did that happen?"

"I can read, you know." He snipped back, "Magic tomes aren't exactly in short supply."

When he'd begun the Officers Academy he'd been a strictly physical fighter. The professor had taken one look at his training schedule and essentially ripped it to shreds, instructing him to study with Annette and Sylvain on Reason magic and Mercedes on Faith magic. Surprisingly enough he'd excelled, eventually growing into a Mortal Savant, which was never a class he'd considered for himself. Honestly, he'd never really thought past getting his Swordmaster certification, but Byleth was strangely in tune with all their untapped talent. 

Dimitri dropped his gaze and replied stiffly, "Of course, my apologies."

Fuck. This was exactly what Felix had wanted to avoid.

"You should have told us, you know." He can feel his face do an odd twitch and he feels Dimitri's eyes boring into him, "We can...support you, or something."

It was painful to say, after avoiding Dimitri and all the feelings that came with that situation for...how many years? Goddess, about two if he was going off Dimitri's timeline, and seven if it was from his own perspective. 

Dimitri had the audacity to laugh. Not a full-on laugh, not an evil cackle, just a small chuckle that was likely meant to be kept to himself.

Felix's grip tightened on accident, making the prince wince, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Dimitri's smile fell, and he removed his arm from Felix's grasp, "Thank you for healing me. You can go."

He said it like royalty, like a real prince would when dismissing someone, and it pissed Felix off. Dimitri had never spoken to him like that before; not when they avoided each other, not when Felix insulted him, and certainly not when they were friends.

"Excuse me?" The swordsman narrowed his eyes.

"You haven't cared about me at all for two years," Dimitri said, an emotionless facade in place to hide the hurt but it still shined through in his voice, "You call me a beast to my face and to others, tell everyone how dangerous I am and warn them away, and then you have the nerve to be angry with me over not telling you about a cut? Let alone saying you're going to be _supportive_."

This was...perturbing, to say the least. The last time they'd had a conversation about Felix giving a shit about Dimitri had been right after Rodrigue's death when the king was walking on eggshells around him. It had included a lot of apologies, all of them from Dimitri, and a mere begrudging admittance of care from Felix. The other man had never said...any of this. Having Dimitri be so young and without as many regrets as his future self clearly made his tongue looser. 

Dimitri took the silence as an admittance of guilt, clearly, "Please go, Felix."

He looked tired. There were bags under his eyes, and his gaze caught on empty air like he was staring at nothing. Felix knew to him it was something; the ghosts got worse the more exhausted and anxious Dimitri got, and right now he seemed to be both of those things. 

If he claimed to hold affection for Dimitri, to love him at all, it was time to bite the bullet and do what he'd failed to before. 

"I'm sorry." He said as honestly as possible, despite the grimace he was sure adorned his face.

The reaction was instant, Dimitri's eyes getting impossibly wide and staring at Felix like he'd grown a second head. 

"What?" The prince blurted.

"I'm not saying it again." He let out a sharp sigh, "You heard me. Maybe I shouldn't have...called you a boar all those times."

He definitely shouldn't have. Even now he saw Dimitri wince just slightly when he said the word, and he wondered just how much of that Dimitri had internalized. Had Felix made his suffering even worse?

Probably. Damnit.

He saw Dimitri wilt slightly, looking off into open-air before shaking his head, "I do not...quite want to have this conversation right now."

Felix wanted to demand when would be a better time, to ask why he was pushing him away like he had when they were kids, to ask a million other questions. Instead, he clenched his jaw and picked up the scraps of his heart before walking out the door. He heard Dimitri close it behind him, and the sound was definitive. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "He didn't know if he could replicate the events that made Dimitri love him in return. " HAHA, jokes on you, Felix, Dimitri has been in love with you for YEARS. You're fucking late. Dimitri loves you, shitty attitude and all.
> 
> Felix is trying his best but really shitty at emotions. He also low key caused Dimitri a lot of trauma after the rebellion when he started with the boar stuff. He thought his friend was gone because of how violent Dimitri had gotten, so he turned to avoidance tactics to ignore his own hurt following his brother's death and Dimitri's perceived "death" in his eyes. 
> 
> What he didn't realize was Dimitri had severe trauma from seeing his family get murdered in front of him and living through Duscur. The survivor's guilt mixed with his pre-existing mental health issues was a recipe for disaster, not to mention his canonically low self-esteem. 
> 
> So yeah, Felix calling him a boar and telling everyone he's a monster and unsafe to be around definitely caused some damage, especially coming from his closest childhood friend. He internalized a lot of that, so that's why he's kind of not willing to talk to Felix about it. He loves Felix still, probably always will, but he's hurting just like Felix was in the original timeline that started all this.
> 
> Future Dimitri had a lot more mistakes under his belt and felt like he didn't deserve Felix. Past Dimitri so far is a hurt teenager who just has a lot of trauma and a violent streak. The real mental break happens after Edelgard's reveal (let's face it a lot of that stemmed from the fact that he had no real support besides Dedue who knew the extent of his trauma) so hopefully, we can avoid that. 
> 
> The boys are struggling big time. Then you have Yuri and Byleth who are just out here being a power couple, so we stan.


End file.
